THE QUEEN could be coming to Coventry Cathedral next year to mark its 50th anniversary.

The cathedral has invited Queen Elizabeth and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to attend a special ceremony on May 23, 2012.

It would mark 50 years since the Queen consecrated the new cathedral building in 1962.

The Queen also laid the foundation stone for the cathedral in 1956.

The event comes in the year royal celebrations will sweep the nation to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – 60 years on the throne.

Canon David Stone, who is responsible for all services and worship at Coventry Cathedral, said: “With the Diamond Jubilee next year everyone wants the Queen to come.

“We’ve registered with Buckingham Palace that we are holding our 50th anniversary celebration but the Palace will not give details until a couple of months before.

“We thought it would be ideal because the Queen was present at the consecration of the new cathedral and also laid the foundation stone, so we felt it was important to give her the opportunity to come and celebrate with us.”

The original Coventry Cathedral was left in ruins after being devastated by Luftwaffe bombs in the Coventry Blitz on November 14 1940.

Bosses at the cathedral are considering holding a ballot to choose about 200 members of the public to attend the prestigious 50th anniversary ceremony next year.

Part of the celebration could also be held in the ruins of the old cathedral.

Canon Stone added: “The majority of the ceremony will be in the new cathedral but we want to acknowledge the significance of the ruins as part of that.

“We’re drawing up a list of people we would like to invite and one of my particular concerns is to make sure there’s space for ordinary people as well as VIPs.

“Clearly the cathedral has limited capacity and quite a lot of people will want to celebrate this very special place.”

News of the possible visit comes just two months after the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Stratford’s newly transformed Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the new Warwickshire Justice Centre in Leamington.

The Queen’s last visit to Coventry was in March 2000.

A spokesman for Coventry Cathedral said: “It’s provisionally booked in her diary but not confirmed.”

Buckingham Palace and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lambeth Palace declined to comment when contacted by the Telegraph.